I've heard my Axioms sound both ways. Extra bright, and smooth and easy on the ears. It depends on a lot of factors as to which way you're going to hear them. The room, speaker placement, position of the mic during calibration. All these things will contribute to how your speakers are going to sound. For me, just raising the mic, a foot during calibration, and repositioning some speakers so I don't have 12 tweeters pointed at my ears at the same time has cured my too bright problem that I was initially experiencing when installing a new set of speakers.

For me, just raising the mic, a foot during calibration, and repositioning some speakers so I don't have 12 tweeters pointed at my ears at the same time has cured my too bright problem that I was initially experiencing when installing a new set of speakers.

In the interest of fair disclosure, you should understand that Cat has 117 speakers on his front wall.

I really wish that you hadn't brought this up at AVS. The same old crap has flared up again with the same old players & the same tiresome vitriol. As HTS forum owner quipped about the main, vocal detractor - 'slanderous'.